The present invention relates generally to a method of cutting a boneless turkey breast into a plurality of different turkey product parts.
FIG. 1 shows a typical uncooked boneless turkey breast 10 after it has been removed from turkey. The outer yellow skin has been removed. Each turkey breast 10 is often referred to as one-half the entire turkey breast. The turkey breast 10 has a thick lobe portion 12, referred to as the "eye of the breast", and a thin lobe portion 14. The two lobe portions 12 and 14 are separated by, and connected along, a natural seam 16. The thick lobe portion 12 has an outside surface 18 and an inside surface 20. The thin lobe portion 14 also has an outside surface 22 and an inside surface 24. In FIG. 1, the outside surfaces 18 and 22 face upward. The outside surfaces 18 and 22 are generally covered by a thin pearlescent membrane or silver skin 25. The thick lobe portion 12 has a front end 26 and a back end 28. In FIG. 1, the front end 26 is on the left side and the back end 28 is on the right side. The back end 28 comes generally to a point 30 when viewed in two dimensions, whereas the front end 26 comes to a generally rounded edge 32 when viewed in two dimensions. The thick lobe portion 12 may be defined as having a longitudinal axis L.sub.1 extending between the front and back ends 26 and 28. The grain of the turkey meat is oriented generally parallel to the axis L.sub.1. Likewise, the thin lobe portion 14 has a front end 34 and a back end 36. In FIG. 1, the front end 34 is on the left side and the back end 36 is on the right side. The back end 36 comes generally to a point 38 when viewed in two dimensions, whereas the front end 34 comes to a generally rounded edge 40 when viewed in two dimensions.
Boneless turkey breasts such as illustrated by breast 10 may be cooked in many different ways, such as by oven roasting, baking, broiling, steaming, or the like. The emphasis on healthy foods has led to an increase in the popularity of boneless turkey breasts because boneless turkey breasts consist mainly of relatively low fat white meat.
Turkey breasts are typically sold by the pound. Consumers are very price conscious when purchasing meat and poultry products and will generally resist buying such products if the price per pound is perceived to be too high. Poultry products, such as turkey, compete for the consumer's food dollar against red meat products, such as steak. Steak has traditionally been a more attractive product than poultry, even though whole boneless turkey breasts are usually a better food value because there is little or no waste, either from inedible parts or from trimmed off fat. Nonetheless, consumers resist purchasing whole, boneless turkey breasts if the "per pound" price is too high. This fact ultimately limits the profit per pound that turkey growers, distributors, butchers, and retail outlets can derive from a slaughtered turkey.
Furthermore, many consumers resist purchasing whole boneless turkey breasts altogether because they do not know how to prepare or cook such a large piece of meat.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of increasing the perceived commercial value and usefulness of a boneless turkey breast so as to increase the potential "per pound" profit of a breast, while also expanding the market for boneless turkey breasts to new consumers. The present invention fulfills such needs by providing a method for cutting the turkey breast to form a plurality of individual turkey products which resemble different types of steak products, wherein the total perceived value of the turkey products is higher than the total perceived value of the original whole turkey breast.